Letters Of Note features two letters written by Thom Yorke in response to fan letters he received early in Radiohead’s career. Yorke wrote one in 1994, while the band was still recording The Bends, while the other was typed up by Yorke for a fan in 1996. The letters are short, but pretty cute: Yorke tells the first fan that “… Phil is currently playing a wierd [sic] ride cymbal thing on Nice Dream. Jonny’s in the corner drawing with an Apple Mac.” The second one, from 1996, reads, “i hope you get your wish to leave your town and see the world. the worst feeling in the world is not thinking anybody else feels the same as you, but you’dbe [sic] surprised how many people to do.” It’s very sweet of Yorke to encourage an American girl to get out of her hometown. I don’t know if she traveled around the world, but she seems to be doing just fine. Check out the letters and transcripts below.

Transcript

radiohead
p.o. box 322
oxford
OX4 1BL

23rd March 94

Dearest Rob.

Thanks for writing. Wow! Framing T-shirts. Next thing we know we’ll have our plectrums framed in “Rock Café”s around the world! Or not.

I’m sitting in the control room of a studio in London. – ‘RAK’ where we’re recording new stuff, for the album & so on. Phil is currently playing a wierd ride cymbal thing on Nice Dream. Jonny’s in the corner drawing with an Apple Mac.

Hope you like the new stuff!

all love

thom

Transcript

i hope you get your wish to leave your town and see the world. the worst feeling in the world is not thinking anybody else feels the same as you, but you’dbe surprised how many people to do. i hope you are feeling okay today

Does anyone have any good fan mail stories? I did an interview with Fred Armisen a while back where he told me he began a pen pal relationship with John Waters when he was 15 that has continued on to the present. I used to email Michael Ian Black when I was in middle school. When Ace Ventura came out I wrote all of Jim Carrey’s ex-girlfriends to ask them what it was like dating him. They never responded.